Run Jen Run

portsmouth 5k turkey trot

There’s nothing like getting up at 6:45 am on Thanksgiving morning to run before stuffing your face — luckily, about 1,000 other people were right there with me. I ran the first-ever 5K Turkey Trot through the streets of downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Results
Chip Time: 36:07
Average Pace: 11:38 / mile
Overall Place: 724 of 872
Division Place: 63 of 74 in females 20-29

They used timing chips this race, but they didn’t have a starting mat, so my guess is my actual time is closer to 35:46. I noticed the people calling out the times at the mile markers were 21 seconds ahead of the time showing on my iPod, and I was at the back of the thousand-strong crowd when the gun went off.

It was a serene fall day by the Portsmouth waterfront, and it turned out to be 45 degrees, much warmer than I’d thought. I prepared for 35 with a hat and gloves and didn’t need any of that.


The race organizers held a costume contest before the gun went off, and there were some pretty ridiculous-looking people out there. In the picture below, you’ll note a bunch of appropriate Thanksgiving costumes — an Indian, pilgrim, a chef, turkeys — and a seriously misplaced Santa Claus. Freaking Christmas gets earlier every damn year.


If you ask me, my favorite was these hats:


I’m a bit conflicted about my time for this race. I ultimately ran faster than I have before, and that should be the most important thing, but I walked a lot more than I did in the previous race:


When I rounded the final corner, I really dialed up the speed:


My Dad took a bunch of rapid-fire pictures of me crossing the finish line, and this is the one where I least look like I’m dying while sprinting (hey, I didn’t expect to be smiling when I was pushing that hard!). It also happens to have my official finish time in it.


I got one hell of a shock when I downloaded my Nike+ run data, though — I didn’t know it was possible for me to move that fast!


I think this is probably the last road race I’ll be doing for a little bit, because there don’t seem to be a bunch available in NYC or NH at my current distance. Instead, I’ll be working up to a 10K distance and hopefully running one of those in a few months. As a final note, the very best part about all of these races is feeling accomplished and meeting up with my parents at the end. Thanks for the support, guys!